Nicolas St. Clair
Biography Nothing would ever compare to the sheer beauty and extraordinary grandeur of the city he had left behind. That, Nicolas St. Clair, was entirely sure of. Naturally though, it had its downfalls just like any other metropolis, and much had changed since his enjoyable childhood there. The air was now thick with pollutants, the streets with prostitutes and that God-awful light show they had desecrated'' La tour Eiffel'' with… Mon Dieu. None of those had been the reason he’d left home, though, they came later. For that, he had to thank his young and eager mind, infatuated with the idea of a land of opportunities. At aged twenty-four, Nicolas St. Clair and his young wife Adrienne packed up their belongings and headed toward the Port City of Launceston. It was a spontaneous decision he was certain he wouldn’t regret. All that he knew was he had to dedicate his every breath in providing a suitable home for his wife and financial security for his future family. Here, in a city with a steadily growing economy, he could prove to himself and everyone else that he could be just as successful as any American could be. And he did just that. Although the language barrier proved itself to be an obstacle for the best part of their first year, both he and his wife quickly grasped English and began to settle in to their new lives as if they were locals. Two years after their arrival, Adrienne fell pregnant with their first of four children. Their first business venture was a small boulangerie, perfect for showcasing the excellent talent for cuisine his wife possessed. Their success was almost instantaneous. They proceeded to open up two more shops in midtown as well as a restaurant near The Junction and their business flourished. Behind the scenes, so did his family. With four beautiful children, Nicolas couldn’t have been a happier man. Things would quickly change, however and not for the better. A disgruntled Russian businessman would seek out his wife and demand they close their restaurant, raging that it was ruining his own. Of course they denied and quickly brushed aside the threat. Three days later, the site of their original shop was burned to the ground. Nicolas was furious and his wife was distraught. Upon finding the man responsible, he realized he had inadvertently stumbled into the territory of the Russian Mob but not even they would intimidate him away from standing up for his family. In a ruthless response, learning their income was reliant on importing goods; Nicolas bought majority shares in the only independent shipping company working in the docks. Using his control, he limited Vorshevsky’s business to a minimum – angering him even more. Slowly, Nicolas was becoming a force that every intelligent person knew should not be reckoned with. Businesses began to spread out of the city and throughout the country, allowing him to relish an enormous annual income from his chain. His fortune was tipped over the edge when his wealthy mother passed away, leaving her multi-million dollar inheritance to her only son. Things seemed to be going fantastically, but that didn’t stop the greed that niggled at him. Increasingly, he searched for more. Every fiber of him wanted to ruin Vorshevsky, out of pride more than anything else and he learned that with money came power. Manipulating the authorities was almost easy when you had a cash sum to hand out and if that’s what it took to control the city, so be it. His power reached an all time high when he helped pay off a large majority of the population to vote for Erik Callaghan in his reelection. With his job owed to Nicolas, the Frenchman controls the mayor like a puppet, threatening to expose Erik’s affair with his lawyer if he ever breathes a word of their agreement.